Baalbek Stones
The Stone of the Pregnant Woman ([Hadjar el Hibla] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help)) or Stone of the South is a Roman monolith [1] in Baalbek (ancient Heliopolis), Lebanon. Together with another ancient stone block nearby, it is among the largest monoliths ever quarried by men. The two building blocks were intended for the close-by Roman temple complex − possibly as an addition to the so-called trilith − which was characterized by a monolithic gigantism unparalled in antiquity.
Stone of the Pregnant Woman
The monolith is named after a pregnant woman who, as local legend has it, tricked the naive people of Baalbek into believing that she knows how to move the giant stone, if only they would feed her until she gives birth.[2]
The Roman stone block still lies in the ancient quarry at a distance of 900 m from the Heliopolis temple complex.[3] In 1996, a geodetic team of the Austrian city of Linz conducted topographical measurements at the site which aimed at establishing the exact dimensions of the two monoliths and their possible use in the construction of the gigantic Jupiter temple.[4] According to their calculations, the block weighs 1,000.12 t,[5] thus practically confirming older learned estimations such as by the French scholar Jean-Pierre Adam.[6]
The established dimensions of the rectangular limestone block are:
- 20.31–20.76 m length[7]
- 4 m width at base[7]
- 4.14–5.29 m width at top[7]
- 4.21–4.32 m height[7]
- 2.6–2.8 g/cm³ density[7]
Second monolith
A second ancient monolith was discovered in the same quarry only in the 1990s. With its weight estimated at 1,242 t, it even surpasses the dimension of the well-known Stone of the Pregnant Woman.[8]
The established dimensions of the rectangular limestone block, on the assumption that it continues its shape in the hidden parts underground, are:
See also
References
- ^ Adam, Jean Pierre (1999). Roman Building: Materials and Techniques. Routledge. p. 35. ISBN 978-0415208666.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Ruprechtsberger 1999, pp. 12f.
- ^ Ruprechtsberger 1999, p. 10
- ^ Ruprechtsberger 1999, pp. 9−11
- ^ Ruprechtsberger 1999, p. 15, the calculation is based on a length of 21 m.
- ^ Adam 1977, p. 52: 970 t
- ^ a b c d e Ruprechtsberger 1999, p. 15
- ^ a b c d e Ruprechtsberger 1999, p. 17
Sources
- Adam, Jean-Pierre (1977), "À propos du trilithon de Baalbek: Le transport et la mise en oeuvre des mégalithes", Syria (in French), 54 (1/2): 31–63, doi:10.3406/syria.1977.6623
- Ruprechtsberger, Erwin M. (1999), "Vom Steinbruch zum Jupitertempel von Heliopolis/Baalbek (Libanon)", Linzer Archäologische Forschungen (in German), 30: 7–56
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External links
Media related to Stone of the Pregnant Woman at Wikimedia Commons
33°59′54″N 36°11′56″E / 33.99833°N 36.19889°E
